Falling Leaves
by lightning bug
Summary: Random MittHildy fluff that appeared in my brain one day, so I obeyed my muses and wrote it. Short, fluffy, but sweet. Read and review please!


A.N:

            I'm back!

            And you thought that I had been gotten rid of. As if. I'm immortal.

            Anyway, this was a bit of sudden inspiration and it's-gasp!- a Mitt/Hildy story. I know, controversial piece of work this will be. It's set sometime before '_Crown_', but truthfully, there really is no time. It's sometime in mid-autumn, Mitt's 14 and Hildy's 13. There is no real time existing here, they're stuck in the time-space continuum. 

            This is very fluffy, very short, and very clichéd. I just felt like I needed some fluff to brighten up my life.

            So read, review, and ponder the thoughts that will pop into your head after reading this could-have-happened-but-didn't-so-almost-AU-depending-on-your-definition-fic.

            lightning bug

"You little-little cow!" Maewen's thoughts on Hildy; Crown of Dalemark

            "I don't like her."

            Mitt looked up from the book he was struggling to read. Hildy was staring at the turned back of the Countess.

            "Alk's pretty nice and all, but she's horrible!" Hildy continued, "Why in the One's name did her marry her?"

            "Lapse in judgment?" Mitt said, keeping his voice low.

            "Okay children," The Countess said, without turning from the door where she had been busy talking to someone else. "You may take your leave. Hildrida, tomorrow we will work more on geometry with my Law-woman." As they left, Hildy made a face at her back.

            "Where are you going?" She asked when they were finally outside in the fresh air.

            "I dunno." Mitt said, looking around him. They were in a courtyard. "I may go see Alk."

            "No, you're to come with me." Hildy said, suddenly grabbing his arm. "We are going to the waterfront." Hildy ran, dragging Mitt along, through the mansion and down to the shore. She breathed in the air deeply. "I miss the sea air." She said. "It still isn't the same as Holand though."

            "It's even more different for me." Mitt said. "I grew up on the real waterfront."

            "Yes, where there were dead rats and all sorts of disgusting things floating in the water." Hildy said indignantly. "I liked my water better."

            The coastline of Aberath was interesting Mitt thought as they ran down to it. The water was lined with boats and sand. The sand changed suddenly into grass, and then a large valley full of trees. Then a hill with the mansion atop it.

            Mitt and Hildy faced the coast. "I miss Holand" Hildy proclaimed.

            "So do I, I think." Mitt decided. "This place is just as bad. The Countess might as well be Hadd."

            "He was my grandfather." Hildy said, some of her family pride peeking through. Then the truth. "And he hung those sailors for no reason."

            "You think that was all he did?" Mitt asked, his pride coming through too. "I lived on the waterfront where he made life miserable for all of us."

            "He tried to marry me off when I was nine." Hildy retorted.

            "He watched as the people of Holand died and was only upset because that meant one less person to pay taxes."

            "He hated my father, Ynen, and me."

            "Who doesn't? You were earl's children. No one likes earl's children."

            Hildy looked like she had been slapped. "And you are nothing more than a stupid guttersnipe." And then she ran from the sand and into the meadow and out of Mitt's sight.

            "Flaming Ammet." He muttered. Now he would be blamed. And technically it wasn't his fault. She had started it.

            But still, Mitt did not feel like having his only friend in Aberath mad at him, so he ran into the valley too.

            Hildy was positioned under a tree, her hair a mess of yellow and red leaved. "Hildy?" he asked tentatively.

            "This is the only time I've ever been away from Ynen since I was very young." She said quietly. "I miss him." Mitt could see that she was crying

            "I'm…sorry?" Mitt ventured, unsure of what to say.

            "You were right about father." Hildy gulped. "He's horrible too."

            "Well, at least he's not like Hadd." Mitt said, though this did not mean he thought any better of Navis.

            "No, he's just so sarcastic all the time, and so selfish." Hildy said. "He thinks that my idea of becoming a Law-woman is a joke. He doesn't believe I can do it."

            "I can believe it." Mitt told her.

            "And it's really important to me. Law-women are very respectable." Hildy laid down into the grass, her black hair mixing with the leaves. "If I became one, I would be able to undo the marriage proposal. This is my chance to live my life the way I want to."

            Mitt laid down next to her as they stared at the passing clouds, watching the occasional leaf fall. They laid in silence as they watched the summer die away.

            "Run away with me?" Hildy asked suddenly.

            "What?" Mitt answered, coming out of his daze.

            "Run away with me, away from here." Hildy said passionately. "The Wind's Road is in one of those sheds. We could steal some food and water. We can sail away to Adenmouth and get father and Ynen. Or we could go by ourselves, journey the high seas, fight pirates, go to the Holy Isles again." She stopped to take a breath. "I promised them that I would go back."

            "What about what you just said about becoming a Law-woman?" Mitt asked trying to make a connection between this sudden statement and her former one. 

             "I was just thinking. I was smothered back in Holand. The same thing will happen if I go to the Lawschool- always following rules, people telling me where to go and when to go there. I'd have no choice in matters."

            Hildy stood up and pointed to the mansion. "It was the Countess who got me thinking. Ever since we've been here, we've had to go by her rules. She told me this is what it will be like at the Lawschool. And you hate this too, I can tell. Run away with me Mitt, far away."

            Mitt stood up to, trying to calm her down. "Think about this Hildy, this is a very big deal. You can't just run away-"

            "Yes I can!" Hildy shouted. "The only time I've ever felt freedom was on the Wind's Road! You were part of that freedom and you are coming with me! I hate this life and-"

            Mitt, in an effort to silence her, kissed Hildy firmly on the lips. Hildy, shocked at first, kissed him back. When Mitt pulled away, he looked at her and said. "Will you listen to me now?" she nodded. "You're a smart girl and if you use those same arguing tactics, you'll be the best Law-woman ever. You are smart, determined, and funny." He leaned down again, his face an inch from hers, his voice low. "And I think I love you."

            Hildy didn't have a chance to say anything before he kissed her again.

            When they stopped, Mitt straightened his clothes and said (in a calm voice as though nothing had happened) "It must be time for supper. Let's go back up." He started walking up the valley.

            "Are you going to run away with me or not?" Hildy called after him.

            "No" Mitt yelled.

            "Then I'll just have to catch you!" She yelled back, running towards him and knocking Mitt over.

            She tickled him furiously until he shouted "Enough! I surrender!"

            "Will you come with me then?"

            "No, but maybe someday." Mitt said, wrapping his arms around her, and there they lay, watching the falling leaves.

A.N: Okay, so I win the pointless fluff of the day award. It was an honor just to be nominated. I always thought that Hildy and Mitt should get together, but then Hildy got mean and then Maewen came along, and she and Mitt were just so cute together. Oh well, Mitt/Hildy was a serious possibility. Oh well, only DWJ knows why she made the decision to not have a Mitt/Hildy relationship, and she's certainly not going to tell me why.

            Now that you've read, I suggest reviewing! Reviews keep my muses happy.

                        lightning bug


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